The End Of The Battle For Mosul Brings The Start Of A Huge Task To Rebuild

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi traveled to Mosul on Sunday todeclare victoryduring the final phase of the long campaign to drive the self-describedIslamic Statemilitants out of the city of Mosul.

While armed forces continued battling over the last part of the Old City under militant control an area that stretches less than a square mile Abadi congratulated Iraqi fighters and Baghdad residents celebrated by dancing in the streets.

But as the end of the battle nears, the destruction brought on by nine months of fierce fighting came into plain sight.

Smoke billows following an airstrike in Mosul by the U.S.-led international coalition on Sunday. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi congratulated the armed forces as the end of the battle for the city nears.

ISIS swept into Mosul in the summer of 2014 in a lightning offensive and made the majority Sunni city its headquarters in Iraq. In June 2014,ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi addressed his followers and celebrated the declaration of a caliphate from inside the citys history Grand al-Nuri Mosque.

The battle to retake Mosul started in October 2016, and first focused on the eastern districts before moving to the narrow streets of the Old City in the west.

The campaign lasted far longer than expected, and took a far heavier toll than predicted.

Martyn Aim via Getty Images

An injured woman arrives at an Iraqi forces checkpoint amid heavy fighting in the Old City of Mosul on Saturday.

In western Mosul what were seeing is the worst damage of the entire conflict. In those neighborhoods where the fighting has been the fiercest, were looking at levels of damage incomparable to anything else that has happened in Iraq so far, Lisa Grande, the United Nations humanitarian coordinator for Iraq, told Reuterson Wednesday.

At least six of western Mosuls 44 districts have been leveled, Grande said. Air strikes, fierce house-to-house combat and attacks by suicide bombers have obliterated crucial infrastructure like roads, bridges, the water works and the electricity net. Homes, schools and hospitals have been destroyed.

On June 21, as Iraqi armed forces were closing in,ISIS blew up the 12th-century Grand al-Nuri mosque where Baghdadi had given his caliphate speech.

Handout . / Reuters

A still image taken from video shows the destroyed Grand al-Nuri Mosque of Mosul last month. ISIS militants blew up the 12th-century structure as Iraqi army forces were closing in.

The UN estimates it will take up to a year, and more than $1 billion, to restore basic services like water, sewage, electricity, schools and medical facilities. Long-term rebuilding is expected to cost billions more.

The level of destruction severely complicates the return of hundreds of thousands of Mosul residents who fled the fighting. More than 900,000 people, about half of the citys population, are now living with family members or in refugee camps.

For families that come from other neighborhoods that are moderately destroyed, I think we can expect that many of them will try to go back and theyll do the best they can to try to rebuild, Grande said.

Alaa Al-Marjani / Reuters

A tank fires at Islamic State militants in the old City of Mosul last week. The UN estimates it will take at least $1 billion to return basic services to the city.

For the others,a longer stay in one of the many overcrowded refugee camps lies ahead.

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